A reader asked me what in my opinion was the most played computer game of all times, measured in man-hours. He suggested that unless you treat the expansions as different games, World of Warcraft would hold that title. But I'm not so sure that this is true, because there is a strong contender: Solitaire. Due to having been included with many versions of Windows, even on office computers, countless people wasted their office time playing Solitaire. Problem is that this game doesn't show up on sites like Xfire for measurement.

Space Invaders must rank highly as the most played video game but if you're talking pure computers (ranging from ZX81 style boxes to the IBM/Wintel PCs) I think the olnly game that could give your Solitaire a threat is Minesweeper.

I don't think people understand how poorly thought out that question tends to be. It's never clear what the questioner wants (other than bragging rights for their choice) and always need clarification. For one, people usually say that Solitare and Minesweeper don't count.

If WoW and all its expansions count as one game, can I lump all the versions of Madden football together and toss that into consideration? Or are consoles taboo?

I'd guess it has to be Solitaire. It's always there and it never goes out of fashion. I have never played it, by the way, although I have seen it played in our house, mostly by people who otherwise don't play computer games.

Windows Solitaire used to be in the XFire monthly round up (something they stopped a couple of years back), and it was always at the top of the "other" category and its numbers always crushed everything else. It was often assumed that EVE players were playing it while mining or traveling, as they seemed to be well represented on XFire.

I do wonder where StarCraft would rank, given the South Korean obsession with the game.